


Bits and Pieces

by joyblue



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-20 14:31:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyblue/pseuds/joyblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble/short fic collections</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Memories: Arya/Gendry, Ned

**Author's Note:**

> I am trying to do a job application but this won't leave me alone. Not all the next chapters will be angst, I will update tags and character tags as new chapters get posted.

Bits and Pieces  
Standard Disclaimers Apply

In Memories: Arya/Gendry, Ned

It was three moons after Arya turned four and ten that she left Winterfell to be married. She fought him, and threatened that she would run. But in the end, the words of her mother’s house, _Family, Duty, Honour,_ ran deep in her veins. He could still remember how his daughter took one last look at Robert’s bastard, and he pretended not to notice how the smith gave his daughter one small nod before he retreated inside the forge.

No one ever expected that Arya would return barely a week after she left. The rain poured from the heavens when they returned to Winterfell. The group of bandits took them by surprise, and he will live the rest of his life replaying the horror as he watched his sweet daughter collapse to the ground. Rickon’s anguish as he realised his sister died saving him. He will never forget the wail that came from his wife as she cradled her daughter’s lifeless body.

The people of Winterfell gathered on the square as the carriage that carried Arya’s body arrived. One by one, the people bowed their heads and kneeled, not one of them minded the mud that caked their dresses and breeches as they paid their final respects to the girl that treated them as her equal.

He pretended not to notice the accusing glare the smith sent his way. The boy did not have to say it, Ned knew, he could feel the blame the boy directed at him. Arya begged him not to send her away to be married, but he stood his ground, and Arya accepted her fate. Now, he will lay his daughter to rest in the darkness of the crypt where she will finally get her wish and remain in Winterfell forever.

The three moons that passed since the death of his daughter was still surreal to Ned. He still expected to see Arya in the training grounds, hear her laughter, see her smile and feel her embrace every day that passed. Like all the nights since she was buried, Ned took a torch down the crypt to visit his daughter.

It was too early for them to heal, Cat still has not spoken to anyone and Rickon was too angry to do anything but ride his direwolf away from Winterfell where no one could see him release the rage and the guilt he felt. No matter how much they try to convince him it was not his fault, he would not believe them. No words could ever comfort him.

Ned could only sigh as he noticed the door to the crypt had been broken. He stepped inside, and was not surprised to see Gendry on the ground, the torch on the wall illuminating him and Arya’s statue. In the small confines of the crypt, Ned could smell the alcohol on the boy.

 “You can’t even remember her for who she really is, can you?” Gendry slurred out as he touched the base of the statue. “She hated dresses, and that is not how Arya smiles.”  

“This is not who Arya is.” Gendry added as he pointed to the statue. “This is who you want her to be, a lady who wear dresses, who will smile because she is supposed to!”

Ned watched in concern as Gendry stood up and nearly wobbled and held on Arya’s statue for support. “She deserves to be out there, where she can be free, not to be trapped in the darkness. You can’t even set her free even in death.”

His words shook Ned, Gendry’s words were almost similar to Robert the first time he visited Lyanna. Ned could not speak, only stare as Gendry dropped to his knees, his arms around Arya’s statue.

“Arya…”

His daughter’s name came out in a sob, and Ned turned around and walked away and held his own tears at bay as his throat closed up. He walked up the steps, each sob a reminder that his daughter was lost to him forever.

It would take another three moons before he would see Gendry again, this time in the courtyard as the stonemason wheeled a new statue he commissioned, Arya in breeches and tunic, with needle on her hip, and the smile that was truly Arya carved on the stone’s lips.

His gaze locked with Gendry, whose eyes followed the statue with an almost smile on his lips as the statue was led to the Godswood.

 

 

End Chapter

 

This is what I get for listening to the OVA Soundtrack of Rurouni Kenshin. I've had the idea floating in my head for a while, but nothing ever came out of it. It was supposed to be from Hot Pie's POV, but it didn't fit. So now that this is done, hopefully, my plot bunnies will allow me to finish my job app and return to me on the weekend.

Title of the song is In Memories: Ko-To-Wa-Ri.

There's another brilliant track called The Wars of the Last Wolves... if you guys can locate the tracks via youtube or spotify, pandora etc, it's worth a listen!

 

 

 


	2. II Modern AU: Hero - Arya & Hot Pie & Gendry friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heroes come in all shape and sizes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't seem to grasp the concept of a short fic. I have tried to cut this down, but it didn't work!

 

Bits and Pieces

Standard Disclaimers Apply

 

II Modern AU: Hero: Arya & Hot Pie & Gendry friendship.

Hot Pie opened his eyes and winced at the pain that he felt. He blinked, and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling above him. 

“Howard?”

The voice was familiar, but he couldn’t place the voice that called his name. Nobody called him that but his parents and his older relatives, and he was certain that the soothing voice did not belong to any of them.

He felt someone help him sit up, and felt the cool glass that touched his lips. He drank the water, grateful for whoever gave him a drink. When he opened his eyes, he spat out the water in panic when he finally realised why the voice sounded familiar.

Ned Stark looked at him in alarm. “Are you alright?”

Arya ’s father looked at him, but Hot Pie could only focus on the man’s split lip, and the memory of that night came back.

_Earlier that evening_ …

“Arya!” Hot Pie shook Arya as he tried to wake his friend up. Arya looked at him, grey eyes that looked confused before her head drooped down again. “Arya, this isn’t funny! Wake up!”

He knew this party was a bad idea, and after spending an hour surrounded by drunk idiots, he knew it was time to go. He had lost sight of Arya a while back, and the last thing he expected to see was his friend inside a room with a guy that looked like a total sleaze.

Her top was half undone, and when he heard a snicker behind him, Hot Pie turned around just in time to see the sleaze take a picture of Arya. “Stop that!”

The guy just laughed as he snorted. “Chill, fatty. I just want to get a souvenir of my conquest for the night.”

“Shut up!” Hot Pie snapped as he stood up to face the guy. “Stop taking pictures!”

“What are you going to do about it, fatty?”  The guy taunted before Hot Pie got pushed back. The guy just gave him a smirk before he was pushed again, but this time the guy slapped him at the back of the head. “You really think you can do something?”

Hot Pie gritted his teeth before he grabbed the phone away from the guy and held it tightly with his hands.

“Give it back,” the guy demanded as he pushed him again. “I said, give it back!”

This time, before the guy could push him again, Hot Pie clenched his fists before drawing his arm back and delivered an uppercut like he would throw when he played Kinect with Arya and Gendry.

The guy fell down on the floor and swore at him. Hot Pie panicked as the guy began to holler for his friends. He grabbed Arya and dragged her away from the room. He knew this party was a bad idea, but Arya insisted on going. Now, as he hauled his friend through the crowd of people, Hot Pie knew that he should have told Gendry what Arya’s plan was. Gendry was the reasonable one, he was the one who kept them (Arya) out of trouble, and if they (Arya) did get into trouble, Gendry was the one who got them (Arya) out of it. As Hot Pie made his way through the throngs of people, he swore that he would never, ever be swayed by Arya’s puppy dog eyes ever again.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the front door. He was about to reach for the handle when a loud voice cried out over the noise.

“Fat boy! Hey you!” 

Hot Pie turned around and saw the guy from earlier, surrounded by his friends as he pointed at him. 

“Get him!”

He heard the door open behind him, and when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, Hot Pie reacted instinctively and swung his fist a second time that night.

The figure staggered back in surprise, and Hot Pie felt as if the blood was drained from his body when the figure turned to face him, and he found himself face to face with Ned Stark.

The man calmly wiped the blood from his lips as uniformed officers walked in the house. He could barely hear the panicked cries of the other party goers as Arya’s father looked at him before his eyes settled on Arya. Hot Pie watched as those grey eyes that were so much like his friend grew wide in shock.

He looked at his fist littered with a few specks of blood before he turned his attention towards Arya’s father before everything went dark.

_Present Time_

“I swear sir, Arya and I weren’t doing anything wrong…”

“I know.” Ned said softly. “I wanted to make sure you are feeling alright. You took quite a hit when you fell.”

“I… I’m sorry sir about your uh…”

Ned Stark gave a dry chuckle. “It’s been a while since someone caught me by surprise. I guess Arya was right to say that I’ve lost my touch.”

At the mention of his friend’s name, Hot Pie sat a little straighter. “Arya… is she okay?”

“She is, thanks to you.” Ned replied grimly before he took a deep breath and looked away from him as if the man was trying to compose himself. “The phone you had with you, one of the officers took a look at it, and the young man who owns that phone appeared to have a habit of taking advantage of unconscious young women. You saved my daughter.”

“I guess my mum can’t say playing video game will do me no good. If it wasn’t for playing all those fighting games on Kinect I don’t think I’d be able to throw a punch.”

Arya’s father chuckled again, and they both turned around when the door opened and 

Gendry and Arya walked in with a brown paper bag. Ned stood up held out his hands and Hot Pie shook the hand that was offered to him as Arya’s father thanked him again.

He watched as Ned shook Gendry’s hand before giving Arya a kiss on the forehead as he wrapped his arms around his daughter. When Arya’s father walked out and closed the door, Arya immediately walked towards him and gently punched his shoulder before sitting next to him on the bed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Hot Pie responded as he and Gendry exchanged a fist bump, before Gendry sat on the other side of the bed, putting him in the middle. “I’m just grateful that this time, I didn’t pee in my pants.”

Arya snorted at that memory. “You were what, eight?”

“And you've never let me forget it!” Hot Pie retorted and Gendry just snickered, obviously replaying that memory in his mind.

“You did well, you know?”

Hot Pie looked at Gendry and felt the nape of his neck heat up. “Nah, I think I just got lucky.”

“Lucky? That guy was some black belt in judo or something.” Arya said as she gave him another punch on the shoulder.

“Like I said, I got lucky.” Hot Pie responded. It was Gendry who was always the one that saved the day, and for Arya’s father, and for his friends to notice it was something he was not used to.

“Don’t be stupid, you saved me.” Arya said as she lightly gripped his arm. “If you weren't there...” Arya’s voice trailed off.

“Nah…” Hot Pie muttered, “I don’t exactly look like the hero type.”

“Stupid!” Arya grumbled before she gave him another punch. “Stop talking yourself down. Because of you that jerk is going to pay for all the things he did to other girls, what’s a hero supposed to look like anyway?”

At Arya’s question, Hot Pie looked at Gendry and Arya just snorted causing his older friend to give a mock glare at Arya.

“You’re just as a hero than Gendry is. Don’t you remember that girl, when we were at camp how you helped her when she nearly drowned?”

Hot Pie looked at Arya skeptically. “All I did was call for help.”

“No one else knew she needed help, if you didn't call for anyone, she could have drowned.”

“That doesn't make me a hero!”

This time, the punch that Arya delivered on Hot Pie’s arm carried a bit more force and he winced at the pain. “Forget all that crap you see on tv and books. It’s like those posters with all these firemen looking all muscly and everything, half of them probably are just models, Uncle Edmund looks nothing like those guys in the calendars, but does that make him less of a fireman? No. You've been helping so many people since when we were kids, you spend most of your weekends volunteering helping the local orphanage teaching the children how to cook. You don’t need to save a whole country to be a hero, all the little things you do count. Not all heroes need to be Superman.”

He looked at Gendry who just gave a nod. There were times that he’d felt the odd one out between the three of them, he wasn't as strong as Gendry or as tough as Arya, but times like this made him feel that he would always be a part of this little group.

“So, I guess if I’m a hero, you two are my sidekicks?”

Hot Pie winced as two punches landed on each side of his arms. 

“Don’t push it.” Gendry muttered as Arya snorted besides him.

 

End Chapter


End file.
